Marvel Studios' Phase 4 launches with the premiere of Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany’sWandaVision, the company’s first original series for Disney Plus. Now, Marvel Entertainment’s new featurette onWandaVisionprovides a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how the cast and crew of the series captured the feeling of classic sitcoms.
Set after the events of Marvel Studios’Avengers: Endgame,WandaVisioncenters on Wanda Maximoff and Vision’s attempt to blend into a suburban neighborhood as a happily married couple. Of course, considering Vision was mercilessly and irreversibly killed by Thanos inAvengers: Infinity War, audiences suspect the new world the duo find themselves in may be more illusion than reality.
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The most telling sign is that the citizens and settings of Wanda and Vision’s new home appear to be emulatingclassic sitcoms from past decades, with each episode paying tribute to a different era of television comedies. In order to recreate the aesthetic and tone of the sitcoms being honored,WandaVisionwas filmed in front of a live studio audience, a process Bettanny admitted to being nerve-racking but ultimately rewarding and funny in a behind-the-scenes featurette. Of course, the light-hearted tone of the series may not last as head writer and executive producer Jac Schaeffer indicates when she warns fans, “this is the MCU, so, of course, all is not what it seems.”
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has already confirmedWandaVisionwill tie directly to at least two upcoming MCU films, includingDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessand Tom Holland’s thirdSpider-Manfilm. Olsen will reprise her role as Scarlet Witch opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in theDoctor Strangesequel and began filming her scenes for the film in November 2020, shortly after wrapping onWandaVision.Bettany’s future as Vision, on the other hand, is less certain, though the actor recently expressed his desire to continue playing the character in some form.
The importance ofWandaVisionin Marvel Studios' phase 4 plans has led to speculation that alternate worlds and dimensions will play a key role in the MCU moving forward. Fueling the speculation is the inclusion of Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange in the nextSpider-Manfilm, which may explain how characters such asAlfred Molina’s Doc Ockand Jamie Foxx’s Electro will appear in the MCU.
Marvel Studios' will followWandaVisionwith the premiere of Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’sThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier.The series will explore the aftermath ofAvengers: Endgame, particularly the ramifications of Steve Rogers' decision to pass the Captain America mantle on to Sam Wilson.
